(Audio)
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
It is not that we earn greatness in the Kingdom of heaven as a reward for our efforts at being virtuous. It is rather than greatness in the Kingdom of heaven is synonymous with our capacity to be filled with and transparent to love. Outside of the Kingdom, the commandments don't help with this. Without grace they condemn us.
Is the law then opposed to the promises [of God]? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could bring life, then righteousness would in reality come from the law. But scripture confined all things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe. (see Galatians 3:21-22).
By grace we receive the obedience that comes from faith (see Romans 1:5). We receive the Spirit who gives life and the letter is transformed into something genuinely life-giving (see Second Corinthians 3:6). We learned without grace that we could not fulfill the law. But now grace is given "in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (see Romans 8:4).
If this is all a gift, so that no one may boast (see Ephesians 2:9) then what does it have to do with greatness or status in the Kingdom? Is this the sort of greatness that made the sons of Zebedee desire to sit on the right and the left of Jesus (see Mark 10:37)? No, Jesus wants us to desire a different sort of greatness.
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (see Mark 10:43-44).
It is precisely because the commandments are not arbitrary that we can't simply fulfill them in a merely exterior and superficial fashion. It is very nature of the law to reflect what a heart open to love should look like. It can't bring this heart into existence but it can be a map and even a target to keep us on track.
But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him (see First John 2:5).
Jesus is inviting us to realize that there is no path to fulfillment that doesn't involve service, love, and obedience. It is through these that are hearts are widened and made more able to drink in the very divine life which we are promised to behold forever and be made partakers of in heaven. He isn't mentioning the law just to make us grit our teeth and work harder. He is inviting us to let his grace do its work in us.
“How long will you straddle the issue?
If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.”
All of the alternatives to God, all of the other options for greatness, and anything else besides him we might desire, don't have the capacity to give us the fullness of life for which we were made. They are gods that sleep and do not answer when we need them.
If we have been paying too much attention to the prophets of Baal and the easier options they propose then perhaps it is time to put our own sacrifices on the altar of the LORD and to ask him to call down fire. No matter how watered down our efforts seem the flames of the Holy Spirit are what matter.
The LORD’s fire came down
and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust,
and it lapped up the water in the trench.
Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said,
“The LORD is God! The LORD is God!”
Let's turn aside from Baal. Let us say to the LORD, "my allotted portion and cup" and actually, by the Spirit, mean it.
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